BILL NUMBER: AB 1564	CHAPTERED  10/10/99

	CHAPTER   596
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE   OCTOBER 10, 1999
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR   OCTOBER 5, 1999
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY   AUGUST 26, 1999
	PASSED THE SENATE   AUGUST 24, 1999
	AMENDED IN SENATE   AUGUST 18, 1999
	AMENDED IN SENATE   JULY 12, 1999
	AMENDED IN SENATE   JUNE 30, 1999
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   MAY 28, 1999
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   APRIL 21, 1999
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   APRIL 13, 1999
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   APRIL 5, 1999

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Members Strom-Martin and Machado
   (Coauthors:  Assembly Members Dickerson, Keeley, and Longville)
   (Coauthors:  Senators Chesbro and Costa)

                        FEBRUARY 26, 1999

   An act to add and repeal Chapter 11 (commencing with Section
15399.45) of Part 6.7 of Division 3 of Title 2 of, and to repeal
Chapter 1.9 (commencing with Section 65055) of Division 1 of Title 7
of, the Government Code, and to amend Sections 50832 and 50834 of the
Health and Safety Code, relating to economic development, and making
an appropriation therefor.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1564, Strom-Martin.  Economic development:  rural assistance:
community development block grants.
   (1) Existing law provides for various programs for the development
of economic opportunities in rural areas of the state.
   This bill would establish the California Rural Policy Task Force
within the Office of Planning and Research in the Governor's office,
to be composed of specified state officers, or their representatives.
  It would require the task force to oversee the mobilization and
effective delivery of the state's resources to rural California, and
to establish committees and hold hearings for these purposes.  It
would further require the task force to report annually to the
Governor and the Legislature on its efforts in implementing these
provisions, and to report to the Legislature by July 1, 2000, on the
delivery of community development block grant funds.
   The bill would require each state agency and department
represented on the task force to develop by July 1, 2000, a plan that
identifies programs and resources that can be targeted for rural
areas in respect to the activities of that agency or department.
   The bill would establish the Rural California Technical Assistance
Program in the Trade and Commerce Agency.  It would require the
program, through 2 regional contracts for $50,000 each with public or
private nonprofit organizations, to provide technical assistance to
local governments and tribal governments in accessing resources from
a broad range of funding sources, and in the preparation of
applications and other documents, as may be required, and would set
forth the duties of the contractors under the program.  The bill
would appropriate $125,000 from the General Fund to the agency for
this purpose.
   The bill would repeal the above provisions on January 1, 2003,
unless a later enacted statute extends that date.
   (2) Under existing law, the Department of Housing and Community
Development allocates federal community development block grant funds
to cities and counties, as prescribed.
   This bill would authorize jurisdictions to submit multiyear
proposals.
   (3) Existing law required the Director of Planning and Research to
adopt by December 31, 1994, a rural economic growth strategy, as
specified.
   This bill would repeal these provisions.
   Appropriation:  yes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) The July 1998 report by the Assembly Committee on Rural
Economic Development, entitled "Growing the Economy:  Solutions for
Rural California," found that the state must improve technical
assistance to help local governments access existing resources to
address rural issues.
   (b) The report also found that the state must develop a highly
visible, easily accessible clearinghouse to disseminate critically
needed program information.
   (c) A subcommittee of the state's Community Development Block
Grant Program Working Group identified the need for technical
assistance and additional resources to coordinate the myriad of
state, local, and federal programs directed to rural California, and
the need to investigate alternative service delivery systems for
existing state funding programs and services.
  SEC. 2.  Chapter 11 (commencing with Section 15399.45) is added to
Part 6.7 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, to read:

      CHAPTER 11.  RURAL ASSISTANCE
      Article 1.  California Rural Policy Task Force

   15399.45.  (a) The California Rural Policy Task Force is hereby
established within the Office of Planning and Research in the
Governor's office, to be composed of the following state officers, or
their representatives:
   (1) The Secretary of Health and Human Services.
   (2) The Secretary of Resources.
   (3) The Secretary of Trade and Commerce.
   (4) The Director of Housing and Community Development.
   (5) The Director of Transportation.
   (6) The Director of Food and Agriculture.
   (7) The Lieutenant Governor.
   (b) The agencies and departments represented on the task force
shall provide, from existing resources, staff for the work of the
task force as necessary.
   (c) The task force shall oversee the mobilization and effective
delivery of the state's resources to rural  California.  The task
force shall establish both ad hoc and standing advisory committees,
which shall include representatives of cities and counties
representing a range of rural populations from various geographic
regions of the state, and shall hold public hearings in rural areas
in various geographic regions for these purposes.
   (d) The task force shall work with the Department of Housing and
Community Development to study the process for disbursing community
development block grant funds.  The task force shall include among
the issues to be studied the efficiency and effectiveness of the
technical assistance programs funded pursuant to Section 50833,
including any recommendations on how best to use any surplus
technical assistance funds that remain unallocated, and the best
mechanism to address any existing unmet needs for technical
assistance.  The task force and the department shall request input
from cities and counties representing a range of rural populations in
various geographic regions of the state, and shall provide them with
an opportunity to comment on any proposed changes to the method of
disbursement of community development block grant funds.
Notwithstanding Section 7550.5, by July 1, 2000, the task force shall
report to the Legislature on the effective delivery of community
development block grant funds, and, as necessary, propose
recommendations to ensure the fair and equitable disbursal of those
funds to all eligible jurisdictions.
   (e) Notwithstanding Section 7550.5, the task force shall report
annually to the Governor and the Legislature on its efforts in
implementing this section.
   15399.46.  (a) Each agency or department represented on the task
force shall develop by July 1, 2000, a plan that identifies programs
and resources that can be targeted for rural areas in respect to the
activities of that agency or department.
   (b) Each plan shall do all of the following:
   (1) Identify the economic and community development problems and
opportunities facing communities in the area serviced by the agency
or department.
   (2) Set forth the goals and objectives for taking advantage of the
opportunities for solving the economic, social, and community
development problems of the area serviced by the agency or
department.
   (3) Identify all agencies and departments with significant program
or funding responsibility for rural economic or community
development.
   (4) Develop a plan of action, including identifying local agencies
that may assist the agency or department in effectively serving
rural areas, to consolidate and coordinate the activities of the
programs identified in paragraph (3).
   (c) The task force shall disseminate preliminary plans for public
comment and, to the fullest extent possible, hold public hearings in
rural communities and solicit comments from all affected cities and
counties, and organizations whose purpose is economic and community
development, to assist the agencies and departments in finalizing
their plans.

      Article 2.  Rural California Technical Assistance Program

   15399.47.  (a) The Rural California Technical Assistance Program
is hereby established in the Trade and Commerce Agency.  The program
shall serve two regions, including the North Coast and the northern
San Joaquin Valley, as determined by the agency.
   (b) The program shall contract with public or private nonprofit
organizations to provide technical assistance to local governments
and tribal governments in accessing resources from a broad range of
funding sources, including state, federal, and local sources, and
including grant and loan funds, and in the preparation of
applications and other documents, as may be required.  Each
contractor shall be selected by the Trade and Commerce Agency
following a competitive application process and shall serve a defined
region and occupy office space with a local agency, as determined by
the contract provisions, and shall be responsible for serving their
region, including outlying communities within the region.
   (c) To the extent feasible, the program shall utilize the
expertise available in, and contract with, locally based technical
assistance experts from nonprofit or local organizations to build
long-term capacity throughout rural California.
   (d) Each of the two regional contracts under this section shall be
for fifty thousand dollars ($50,000).
   (e) The agency shall establish baseline criteria for evaluating
the program, and shall conduct an evaluation of program effectiveness
in each of the two project areas and an evaluation of how the
program would work in the remaining rural regions of the state.  The
evaluation shall be completed on January 1, 2002.

      Article 3.  Duration

   15399.48.  This chapter shall remain in effect only until January
1, 2003, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute that is enacted before January 1, 2003, deletes or extends
that date.
  SEC. 3.  Chapter 1.9 (commencing with Section 65055) of Division 1
of Title 7 of the Government Code is repealed.
  SEC. 4.  Section 50832 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
   50832.  (a) In order to ensure that a city or county may apply for
both economic development and general program grants pursuant to
this chapter in the same year, each applicant shall have a maximum
grant request limitation of eight hundred thousand dollars ($800,000)
per year, excluding general allocation planning and technical
assistance grants and economic development allocation planning and
technical assistance grants made available under Section 50833, of
which a maximum of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) per year
may be used for either housing or economic development applications.
These limitations may be waived for the economic development
allocation based upon available economic development funds after
September 1 of each year.  The department shall aggressively inform
eligible cities and counties of the eligibility criteria and
requirements under this section and in Section 50833.
   (b) Except for applications specified in Section 50832.1,
applications for all activities or set-asides under this section and
Section 50833 shall be evaluated on a first-in, first-served basis.
   (c) For all economic development applications under this section
or Section 50833, including economic development assistance grants,
the department shall develop project standards and rating factors
which meet the minimum requirements of federal statutes, including a
jobs-for-dollars test of thirty-five thousand dollars ($35,000) per
job created or retained.  In addition to the low- and moderate-income
persons or families criteria established in subdivision (b) of
Section 50826 and Sections 50827 and 50828, the department shall also
utilize as criteria for the economic development allocation the
federal standards of "blight" and "urgent need" under this section,
Section 50832.1, and Section 50833.
   (d) A jurisdiction may submit multiyear proposals for a period not
exceeding three years in duration.
  SEC. 5.  Section 50834 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
   50834.  (a) The department shall prepare a separate and discrete
training manual and request for proposal for the economic development
set-aside.  The department shall ensure that it can respond to
requests for grants as rapidly as possible.  Once an economic
development project award is approved by the director, a contract
shall be executed and funds made available as soon as possible.
   (b) Any program income received by a city or county grantee, or
any loan repayments made by a beneficiary to a grantee, may be
utilized by the city or county grantee for any activity currently
eligible under federal law and regulations, provided that the
department determines that the beneficiary or grantee has complied
reasonably with the terms and conditions described in the contract
between the grantee and the department.
   (c) Any economic development set aside of funds not encumbered for
funding of a project by the end of the federal contract period shall
revert to the general program and be set aside for use if approved
projects for which no funds are available are pending.
   (d) The department shall conditionally commit economic development
allocations to projects that meet the requirements of this chapter
up front, contingent upon the applicant receiving those other funding
commitments necessary to complete the project.
   (e) Reports on Community Development Block Grants activity shall
be submitted annually by the department to the chairs of the
appropriate legislative committees and to the Trade and Commerce
Agency.
  SEC. 6.  The sum of one hundred twenty-five thousand dollars
($125,000) is hereby appropriated from the General Fund to the Trade
and Commerce Agency for the purposes of Section 15399.47 of the
Government Code.
